Notwithstanding the turbid condition of the public mind, which War still holds, as it were, with an army of preoccupation, clothes are not going to be dispensed with for the present. Rather the reverse, indeed: there appears to be a Uniform tendency in raiment to be copious, gorgeous, and military. War-paint, in its modified form of cobalt-colored flannel, streaks the flexible face of Broadway with wavy azure. What, now, of the sarcastic recommendation to the romancer--"Tell that to the Marines?" You couldn't do it: there is not a marine to the square mile; because all are Ultramarines, now, and every second man you meet looks as if he were rampaging around at a fancy ball, in the character of GAINSBOROUGH'S Blue Boy on a bender. Dyer War has been and gone and done this; coloring with its blue stuff a nation by no means likely to dye of its own accord, but one which is justified, nevertheless, in falling into a fit of the blues at present, under the pressure of temporary grief.

Even in clothes, how remarkable is the tendency of war to develop hidden things, and bring them to the surface! See how under-clothing prevails at present, over the once triumphant broadcloth!--the flannel formerly aired only on the hebdomadal, or semi-monthly, clothesline, as the case might have been, now boldly absorbing the gladsome rays of the sun, instead of the corporeal moisture for the promotion of which it is so generally recommended by the medicine-men of the Pale Faces.

. . .

Basque ever thus, in the sun of Broadway, ladies dear! If you will be military, here is a little idea for the next ball costumé. "AMBULANCE" should be benevolent and attractive, her mission being to take up subscriptions for the families of those who suffer in the war. (154)